In short
Mithila is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas of the Pithanirnaya; by the text Sati’s left shoulder fell here, and the goddess is Uma (Mahadevi) and the Bhairava Mahodara. The historian D. C. Sircar takes it as Janakpur in the Nepal Terai; the text names no temple.
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- Deity
- Uma (Mahadevi)
- Tradition
- Shakta
- Place
- Janakpur in the Nepal Terai
- Region
- Madhesh Province
- Country
- Nepal
Where the sources differ
- Some temples in the Mithila region of Bihar are also spoken of as this pitha, but the government websites of Madhubani and Saharsa districts do not call their Bhagavati temples (Uchchaith, Mahishi) Shakti Peethas.
- Some popular lists today link this pitha with a temple, but we found no official or scholarly source for it; so no temple and no map are given here.
- The count of pithas depends on the text: the Pithanirnaya lists 51, some Bengali lists 52, the Devi Bhagavata (7.30) gives 108 places with names of the goddess, and the early Tantras name only four (Sircar).
Frequently asked questions
Which limb of Sati fell at the Mithila Shakti Peetha?
By the Pithanirnaya, the left shoulder; the goddess is Uma (Mahadevi) and the Bhairava Mahodara.
Where is Mithila Shakti Peetha?
Mithila Shakti Peetha is in Janakpur in the Nepal Terai, Madhesh Province (Nepal).
Which lists of tirthas include Mithila Shakti Peetha?
The 51 Shakti Peethas (number 43 of 51 in the list).
Sources
- D. C. Sircar, The Śākta Pīṭhas (Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal 1948; Motilal Banarsidass, 1973): table of the Pithanirnaya pp. 35-37, note on this pitha p. 56 (archive.org)
- Vachaspatyam (Taranatha Tarkavachaspati), "pitha": the list of pithas quoted from the Tantrachudamani (Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries, sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de)
- Madhubani district (madhubani.nic.in): places of interest; Saharsa district (saharsa.nic.in): Shri Ugratara Sthan, Mahishi
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